1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to cover assemblies for vehicular wheels and hubs. More specifically, the invention relates to locking systems for securing a cover assembly to a vehicular wheel, hub and/or lug nut.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wheel and hub covers (hereinafter "wheel cover") are used to decorate vehicular wheels. Many attempts have been made to conveniently and effectively secure the wheel cover to the wheel. One such attempt is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,635, issued to Brown et al. This reference discloses a wheel cover which covers a portion of the wheel, the lug nuts and all access thereto. Because access to the lug nuts cannot be made after it is attached, the axial fingers must resiliently grip the lug nuts to secure the wheel cover to the wheel. This system requires forcing the axial fingers back over the lug nut when removing the wheel cover so that the lug nuts may be accessed. This is a disadvantage because repeatedly accessing the lug nuts will reduce the resiliency of the axial fingers resulting in a loose wheel cover which vibrates and may be lost if the vibrations are of such a large magnitude to force the axial fingers back over the lug nuts. This will result in a greater frequency of wheel covers which may be lost or damaged due to the reduced resiliency of the axial fingers.
While the wheel cover that is secured to the wheel using the lug nut is decorative, designs not incorporating the resilient fingers, set forth above, require the openings over the lug nuts allowing the lug nuts to remain accessible after the wheel cover is secured to the wheel. When such openings exist, nut caps cover the lug nuts hiding them from view. Nut caps increase the cost of manufacturing the wheel cover to the complex tooling requirements to retain the nut caps to the wheel cover. Such retention systems typically include a threading system.